Shōwa

Explore the Ikinariya Storehouse (Dozou), a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan built in 1928. Located in Niigata's historic Nishiohata district, this traditional Japanese storehouse features a stunning crane relief plaster art and represents the elegance of a legendary ryotei with over 300 years of history.

The Former Hirasawa Residence (Shoraikaku) in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture was completed by 1934 by Hirasawa Yonosuke, founder of the Asahi Shuzo sake brewery, and was designated an Important Cultural Property in 2018. Blending a traditional Japanese house with Art Deco stained-glass round windows and parquet floors, the residence showcases early Shōwa craftsmanship at its finest and is open to the public.

Ikinariya's middle gate and wall of 1928 form an inner boundary: a light gate with a natural-timber ridge, shingle roof and woven door, beside a wall by the storehouse.

Ikinariya's detached room, a 1928 wing and its largest registered structure, sets Western lamps and a natural-wood rail within a Japanese hall, cranes throughout.

A 1942 reinforced-concrete underpass links the building and island platform at Nihongi. Trains reverse across the main line here, so passengers cross safely below ground.

A 1937 steel roof shelters the island platform at Nihongi. Its columns reuse old rails, American ones from 1923 and Yawata Works rails from 1929, welded head to head.

A 1935 wooden waiting room stands on the Nihongi platform, glass on all sides and a timber face where red walls meet white posts. Built for snow country, registered 2019.

Standing alone at the north, this single-storey rice storehouse shows a king-post truss inside and reopened in 2020 as a fermentation museum and cafe.

Attached at the rear of the main house, this two-storey timber parlor greets guests through a cusped-gable porch and opens two garden-facing sides in glass.

The Former Kobayashi Kokei Residence in Takada Castle Site Park, Joetsu, Niigata, is a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property designed by Yoshida Isoya, the pioneer of modern sukiya architecture, for the celebrated Japanese painter Kobayashi Kokei. Originally built in Tokyo in 1934 and relocated to Kokei's hometown in 2001, it showcases innovative techniques that modernized traditional Japanese residential architecture while preserving exceptional Kyoto-trained craftsmanship.

The Former Daishi Bank Sumiyoshi-cho Branch, relocated to the Niigata City History Museum Minatopia grounds, is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property completed in 1927. Its granite facade, Ionic columns, and magnificent interior with marble and white plaster showcase the grandeur of one of Japan's oldest banks. Free admission.

Located in the historic castle town of Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, the Former Daishi Bank Murakami Branch Manager's Residence is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1936 as the home of the Murakami Credit Union president. It features a stately irimoya-style roof, elegant sasarako clapboard siding, and exquisite interior woodwork using precious kuro-gaki (black persimmon) timber.

The Sakata residence main house in Gosen, Niigata, once home to village headmen. Its 20-metre frontage and hipped-and-gabled roof mark a wealthy farming family's rank.

The Sakata family's timber new storehouse in Gosen, Niigata. Exposed close-set pillars and a black-plaster dado mark an unusually careful early-Showa kura.

A compost and livestock shed at the Sakata grounds in Gosen, Niigata. Rough walls and an exposed frame make this rare working building part of a wealthy farmstead.

An earthen-walled storehouse on the Sakata grounds in Gosen, Niigata. Thick plastered walls and closely set pillars make a fireproof dozo, unlike the timber kura nearby.

Discover the Sano Shoten Store and Residence, a 1937 Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Niigata City's Nuttari district. This traditional machiya features segai-zukuri eaves and vertical board cladding.

Discover Seikōkan, a registered tangible cultural property ryokan nestled in Deyu Onsen, Niigata's oldest hot spring dating back 1,200 years. This three-story wooden inn built in 1928 features exquisite sukiya-style craftsmanship and 100% free-flowing natural radium hot spring water.

Dairinji's storehouse of 1928 was moved from a blacksmith's lot in 1986. Its walls set namako lattice against black plaster, with crane-and-tortoise reliefs on the eaves.

Standing on the central avenue of Tsubame City in Niigata Prefecture, the Tsubame Church of the United Church of Christ in Japan is a two-story wooden Western-style church built in 1930. With a kindergarten on the first floor and a chapel above, it long supported the working families of this metalworking town. Locally attributed to architect W. M. Vories, it is one of very few surviving prewar Christian buildings in Niigata, and was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2021. Its white weatherboard façade, semicircular arched windows, and small gable cross still shape the streetscape of Tsubame today.